Voices From The Readers

I couldn’t help but notice that Mr. Dare is running for City Council. His signs are all over town with his slogan "The Right Direction". Slogans are good only if you know what the person means in his statement. A case in point: "Hope and Change"! We all remember that slogan four years ago. We’re living with the results because the media failed to do their job by not asking the question of the man to determine what exactly he meant. I think many people voted for him based on what they believed he meant without looking into his background. Because of this lack of knowledge we, as a nation, are faced with a debt that if allowed to continue will cause the failure of the dollar and, most probably, the loss of our freedom, liberty and the America we’ve known for all our lives.

With this thought in mind, it begs the question to Mr. Dare, "What exactly do you mean by the right direction"? Is it referring to the unionization of the FOP, the EMTs and possible all city workers as a positive or negative idea? Or could it possibly mean he’s ready to take a stand on the fact that the majority of taxpayers in this city have no voice in how their tax dollars are spent? Or maybe he’s thinking of looking into the salary structure in this city as compared to that of other similar sized cities. Or maybe he’ll be willing to look at the cost incurred and paid for by the tax dollars of the unspoken majority regarding the operation of the Convention Center. It’s been a losing proposition from the beginning and now they want to expand it to include an entertainment theater. Or just maybe he’ll be willing to look at the Art League building that the city is spending so much on without any expectation of return on investment.

It’s time the voters, due to the increasing debt situation start asking questions of all candidates instead of voting for someone due to party affiliation or friendship and start looking at their principals and ideas to determine how, if elected, they might affect the city financially. We as the voting public have a responsibility to all the taxpayers who have no representation to vote for only those candidates who we believe will best serve all taxpayers regarding the cost and benefit of all proposed ideas to insure financial stability.

There are some on the council who are willing to spend their own money stating their position regarding unionization. There is one running for council who is willing to state his position on various issues. His ideas may be extreme but he is willing to state his position. The fact that these candidates are willing to spend their own money to voice their opinion says a lot for them.

Now it’s time for Mr. Dare to state his position on these issues and to do so before election day. Without a firm understanding of what exactly he means by "the right direction", I would caution all eligible voters to abstain from voting for him. Remember slogans mean nothing without a firm understanding of what the person really feels. Let’s not make a mistake on a local election that was made at the federal level during the last presidential election. Keep in mind when voting you’re not just voting for yourself but for all the taxpayers who have no voice in this local election yet, whose tax dollars the city could not survive without.

Paul St. Andre
Ocean City

OC Needs Public
Beach Restrooms
Editor:

(The following was letter was addressed to Mayor Rick Meehan and OC Chamber Executive Director Melanie Pursel.)

I have been visiting Ocean City since 1965, enjoying the beach, the city and the great restaurants. In 1978, I bought an apartment in the Top Royal building (126th Street) and since then I’ve enjoyed the beautiful beaches of Ocean City with my wife and two kids.

It has come to my attention that there are not public bathrooms located near any of the beach entrances past the Boardwalk. I have seen public bathrooms in the park though.

Throughout the great cities of the United States, you can find restrooms for those who need them. In Ocean City’s case, these wouldn’t just be for tourists or renters who would have to walk a couple of blocks back to their hotel/apartment but for locals who usually have to drive to the beach and live more than a mile away.

Throughout all the years of being an owner of an apartment in Ocean City, I’ve had to personally open my apartment up to strangers (mothers with their kids) that have needed to use the bathroom and couldn’t wait until they got back to their hotel or home. This is very uncomfortable for me as a resident of Ocean City.

I suggest the government of Ocean City run a study to see the possibility of erecting public bathrooms, perhaps 10 to 15 blocks apart, up and down the beach or at the entrance for the public. A small fee, $1 or $2, could also be charged per person to use such facilities. I leave this recommendation with you and your office as I see this as a way to make Ocean City even better than it is.

Horacio Ciammaichella
McLean, Va.

Crack Down On Littering
Editor:

I support the Town of Ocean City moving forward with their proposed plan in establishing a committee to enforce littering laws and nab persons for littering. I believe the town would have more money than it would know what to do with.

While riding my bicycle in the area that I did (62nd Street to almost the Delaware line) early this week, what I was able to view was trash/garbage/rubbish on virtually every single block that I encountered. The few blocks that I noticed not much activity on I believe were brought about because of individual staffing personnel tending to their grounds.

Bicycling up and down Coastal Highway on three different occasions and on this Monday, I was able to view that on virtually every single block that I biked on (55th up to 130th streets) an overwhelming amount of different types of trash inside bushes/ shrubbery, on the sidewalk, or laying along or in the middle of the street. Items include but not limited to beer bottles, plastic soda bottles, juice bottles, cigarette packs, cigarette butts, diapers, used condoms, etc.

I do most certainly understand that living here in this lovely resort town of Ocean City affords the opportunity for its residents to consistently be greeted by many positive benefits for a vast majority of the year, like the friendly people, fair weather, residents being neighborly and respectful towards each other.

As the week began just after the last full weekend of Ocean City, "closing its doors for the season", I must say that I am disappointed overall with what I failed to see in the city’s attempt to clean up streets including Coastal Highway itself (the main thoroughfare through our town).

During the eight years that I have been living here in this great town called Ocean City, this city seems to always get an "annual bashing" of sorts on the very last weekend in September. For the tourists, its their last hooray. For some residents, it means to get out your broom and dust pan for a few hours so that when family comes to visit, at least your street doesn’t appear to be the laughing stock amongst my guests. Personally, had I had family coming into town to visit me this week, I truly would have been utterly embarrassed. The condition that I saw today on multiple blocks on streets, sidewalks, and on and inside shrubbery was truly embarrassing to me as an Ocean City resident. Perhaps keeping the turquoise colored garbage cans along both sides of Coastal Highway could also prove to be beneficial

If the town of Ocean City plans on endorsing/recognizing events at the end of summer because it is financially beneficial to the city, then such organizations/committees needs to organize a plan for cleaning up today from the tourists and not tomorrow. I wonder about any city official who may have had family visiting recently and may appreciate my words. I did spend just over an hour’s time cleaning up the streets covering one block to the north and also south of where I reside.

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